2 Samuel 16:9,11 - "Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Let me go over, I pray thee, and take off his head...let him alone, and let him curse; for the Lord hath bidden him."

Matthew 7:15 - “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.

Matthew 24:11 - “…and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people.”

Monday, June 23, 2014

Tiffany Croft Has Started New Blog - B&H Publishing Agrees to Remove the False Portions from Vines' Autobiography Dealing with Gilyard

Over the weekend, Tiffany Croft has started a new blog entitled "What Hurts the Most", and has put up her first post with the same title. Also, as I describe below, Jerry Vines' publisher, B&H Publishing, has agreed to remove the false sentences from Vines' autobiography dealing with Darrell Gilyard.

Tiffany's first post in her new blog appears to be a change in direction from her previous blog, perhaps prompted by Vines' brazen attempt to mischaracterize Gilyard's attack on Tiffany as a "flirtation", and then to lie and say that "they were both single at the time" - both statements serving to shift blame onto Tiffany and to downplay the seriousness of the attack. I don't know Vines' motive for these lies - I did attempt to speak to him but have received no response. But when one considers that this attack on Tiffany occurred AFTER Vines and Patterson already had multiple reports of Gilyard's sexual improprieties at other churches in Texas, a self-serving motive appears obvious - that Gilyard's attack was something much less, like a "flirtation", reducing Vines' culpability in one of the teens of his church being harmed by a known sexual deviant.

Here are just a few excerpts from Tiffany's first post:

"The next thing you know, the perpetrator that has broken your trust, your hope, your spirit has mysteriously (and quietly) been "asked to leave". But wait, shouldn't this be dealt with? Shouldn't they face consequences? Shouldn't they have to receive charges, counseling, accountability for their actions? To which you are told, "Well, we must think of how this type of scandal may affect the overall impact of the church."....How does someone get to the place where they feel they are entitled to make the decision to ignore such terrible secrets under the guise of 'protecting the church?' "

Also, I am happy to report that Tiffany recently received a commitment from Jennifer Lyell, a trade publisher for B&H Publishing, that the two erroneous statements in Jerry Vines' autobiography will be removed in the next print, and will be removed this week from the e-book version. I am sure that Tiffany will have more to say about this in the coming days on her blog about how this transpired, and her discussions with the publisher and Jerry Vines - but at this point I'm glad to know that the publisher saw things as Tiffany did, even though Vines may have not. Kudos to Jennifer Lyell and B&H Publishing. They did the right thing.

I hope that both B&H and Jerry Vines will issue a press release apologizing for the misstatements in Vines' book. Perhaps Vines will give his explanation as to why he wrote what he wrote, and I hope that Vines at some point will rewrite this section of his book to be more transparent on the Gilyard matter so as to help other pastors not make his same mistakes. I know that is asking quite a bit, and I won't hold my breath waiting.

And I predict Vines will be a bit more expressive in his next printing on just how much he REALLY dislikes blogs, rather than just saying "I don't care for blogs too much."

16 comments:

Anonymous
said...

Did Vines' book mentions that he still gets paid $75,000 per year, for life, from FBC Jacksonville?

Or did he include a section stating his huge role in the rise to prominence of Butch Caner from Ohio? Did he say whether he believed Michael Caner was a trained terrorist, but that "perhaps he misunderstood" Caner's decade of deceit.

What did his book say about his preaching at Trinity in the midst of lawsuits regarding Bob Gray's molestation of children and Tom Messer's recording admitting he knew about it and covered it up?

And what is most confusing, is that instead of this person becoming your rescuer and defender...most shocking is they now begin to turn it on you. "Have you told anyone else? Who else knows?" "For now, let's just keep this between us ok?""Were you in anyway a participant in this, I mean, did you maybe flirt a little, or dress a little provocatively?""Why were you ever alone with him at the church, didn't you know better?" "Did you tell him no?"

And you feel as if your chest will burst as it all rises up inside of you, as you feel the same feelings of abuse again at this very moment when you should be feeling a release of the burden and embraced in compassion to salve the wounds. Instead, the wound is more raw now, and you feel a little anger mix in, your pride is trying to rise up again, and you shut down.

Next, this person asks you to keep more secrets, keep it quiet...and you feel more burdened and ashamed. Maybe they ask you to give them a little time to "figure out the most appropriate way to deal with this," and the next few times you see them in the halls at church, they avoid you. All of a sudden they are too busy, or they "haven't had enough time yet to investigate your accusations"...and you hang your head a little lower and you pull away.

Compare the above to Jerry Vines version in the book. Welcome to the SBC ladies and gentleman. We are not what we appear to be.

This is a step in the right direction, but it's not enough. They need to require what James Frey's publishers made him do in subsequent printings - include a preface that explains the falsehoods. Vines needs to be required to explain why he stated he understood it to be only flirtation, and why he stated that they were both single at the time.

Has it been mentioned here that just a few days ago Vines was on the platform at the SBC in Baltimore being celebrated for said book and was presented with a special copy. We were urged to get the book which I understood he would autograph in the exibit area. It all seemed contrived, awkward and inappropriate.

I'm sure Tiffany at some point will elaborate on this, that is the response she received to her concerns from Vines, versus the response she received from Jennifer at B & H. So I would reserve judgment until Tiffany tells the whole story.

What? No chapter on the infamous Watchdog? Nothing about how the 'dawg was a long time member of Vine's church and how poorly Vines and the church mishandled the situation? Nothing about how Vines gave the wrong name to church officials (and the JSO investigating officer) which resulted in a deacon and trustee paying a visit to the wrong man's house. And of course never apologized to that man when it was discovered he had wrongly accused the man? How do I know Vines accused the wrong man? Check out the deposition transcript of Detective Robert A. Hinson.

Vines owes apologies to a lot more people than Tiffany. What a legacy. Old, bald insecure bitter bully who helped take over the SBC and then watch it decline every year since. None of that in his book though. I guess "it's in da book" and "take it up with da book" don't apply to Vines' biography. Better to "take it up with da publisher" and "it's NOT in da book."

Clicker

About Me

We're small, insignificant, and harmless. But we have a loud, piercing bark that seems to annoy those in mega churches the most. Not Kool-Aid drinkers, only fresh, filtered water, please; with Grape or Cherry flavoring from Walmart. "Let him alone; God hath bidden him to speak:"